I start a thread over in International Defense Topics and then I find this same topic being raised in "Western Alliance". No one involved here is in the Western Alliance!
Anyway, that thread will probably get deleted, so here's my original comment.
Quote:
Russia says Georgia is preparing to mount an offensive against the Georgian breakaway unrecognized country of Abkhazia soon. In response the Russians are sending more "peacekeepers".
Georgia denies this and says Russia is the provocative one.
BBC NEWS | Europe | Georgia 'plans war in Abkhazia'
Here's a BBC article from a couple days ago where U.S. Secretary of State Rice backs Georgia's sovereignty on breakaway regions Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
BBC NEWS | Europe | US reassures Georgia over Russia
However, if you scroll down the article there is also a 30-second video provided by the Georgian Air Force that shows a video of one of their aircraft drones getting shot down by they claim a Russian aircraft. Pretty cool to watch. Russians deny responsibility and blame the Abkhaz rebels for the shootdown, who claimed responsibility, but I don't think the Abkhaz have that kind of money for a fighter aircraft.
Russian President Vladimir Putin last week said Russia would seek closer ties with Abkhazia and South Ossetia, primarily social and economic links, angering Georgia obviously. This is widely seen as a Russian response to Kosovan independence.
Where there's smoke, there's fire usually. My money's on the Russians if anything occurs.
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